New robotic arm opens up musical worlds for “cyborg” drummer

Surgeons and astronauts, take heed—who couldn't use a third robotic arm?

Jason Barnes has a new tool at his disposal that should help him in his quest to become a professional drummer: a drum-enabling robotic arm. The unique prosthesis was announced last week by the Georgia Institute of Technology.

As demonstrated in this video, Barnes, a below-the-elbow amputee, possesses a robotic arm prototype that allows him to experience three-way independence between his two arms—meaning that he can perform three distinctive stick patterns simultaneously. That's a technical capability unimaginable to most drum set players (the inimitable jazz drummer Eric Harland aside).

"The drummer essentially becomes a cyborg," said Gil Weinberg, the professor who created the robot. "The second drumstick has a mind of its own. It's interesting to see him playing and improvising with part of his arm that he doesn't totally control."

The arm uses a technique called electromyography, picking up electrical signals in Barnes’ upper arm. By tensing his right biceps in different ways, Barnes is able to control how tightly his robotic arm holds the drumsticks, and thus the manner in which the stick strikes the drum. This auxiliary device has enabled Barnes to regain much of his former ability, and it has given him the ability to perform tasks that will likely make him the envy of quite a few metal and jazz drummers and others who push the technical boundaries of the instrument.

Barnes told New Scientist some of the personal background that got him to Weinberg's lab. Two years ago, his dream of becoming a professional drummer was put on hold when he was electrocuted while cleaning out a vent hood at a restaurant. Barnes' right arm was amputated below the elbow.

As he recovered from the accident, Barnes built himself a basic drumming contraption out of a brace and some springs that enabled him to hold a drumstick with his right arm and play with a semblance of his former ability. Despite feeling somewhat limited in his playing at the time, he was able to gain admission to the Atlanta Institute of Music and Media in Georgia.

It was there that a drum teacher introduced him to Gil Weinberg, whose lab was already well-known for its ability to build stand-alone improvising jazz bots like the head-banging, marimba-playing robot Shimon. Sanders, Weinberg, and Barnes collaborated to build Barnes a robotic arm in hopes that it would allow him to regain his former facilities and perhaps even push the envelope of what is humanly possible on a drum kit.

Photo by Rob Felt, Georgia Tech

The possibilities go well beyond drumming; an embedded mechanical third arm could be used by fully abled folks, too, like astronauts, surgeons, or others performing complex and time-sensitive physical tasks.

Barnes says he's still exploring the possibilities of his new robotic arm, and Weinberg’s team says that they have only scratched the surface of what is possible with it. Still, the prosthetic device will make its concert debut at the Atlanta Science Festival on March 22, where Barnes will play drums alongside Sanders and some of Weinberg’s lab’s other robotic creations. Prepare yourselves to do the robo boogie.